Refrigerated display apparatus



1967 H. M. BUCHBINDER 3,

REFRIGERATED DISPLAY APPARATUS Filed Jan. 7, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

H 151M .iBuc/z binder Jan. 3, 1967 H. M. BUCHBINDER REFRIGERATED DISPLAY APPARATUS 2 SheetySheet i U G,

Filed Jan. '7, 1964 INVENTQR. Henr M Buchbmder' the customers.

United States Patent 3,295,634 REFRIGERATED DEPLAY APPARATUS Henry M. Buehhinder, 14 Graymoor Lane, lFlossmoor, lll. 60422 Filed Jan. 7, 1964, Ser. No. 336,248 4 Claims. (Cl. 186-1) This invention relates to a new and improved apparatus or system for the storage and display of frozen foods, dairy products and other items requiring refrigeration, in supermarkets and other stores.

One object of the present invention is to provide new and improved apparatus for the display of refrigerated merchandise behind upright or vertical display doors which the customer may open to take articles of merchandise from the display.

A further object is to provide a new and improved refrigerated display apparatus whereby the stock of frozen foods or other refrigerated merchandise on display may be replenished by a clerk or stock boy working outside of the refrigerated area and also outside of the area used by the customers, so that the restocking operation may be done at comfortably warm temperatures and without interfering with the movement of the customers.

It is another object to provide a new and improved refrigerated display apparatus comprising a series of display racks or the like which are mounted on carts or dollys and are normally positioned within the refrigerated cabinet or freezer, immediately behind the vertical display doors, but may be rolled to the rear within the freezer, or out of the freezer through an entrance door, so that each rack may be restocked in an area maintained at ordinary room temperatures.

A further object is to provide new and improved apparatus of the foregoing character and including one or more extra mobile display racks which may be stocked with merchandise in advance of actual need so that any mobile display unit which is removed from the display area for restocking may be replaced immediately with the extra fully loaded mobile unit.

Another object is to provide new and improved mobile display units which are advantageously constructed for use in the refrigerated display apparatus of the foregoing character.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following description, taken with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic cut away perspective view showing a refrigerated display apparatus constituting an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a section plan View of the refrigerated display apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section through the display apparatus.

FIG. 4- is a plan view of one of the mobile display units used in the apparatus of FIGS. 1-3.

FIG. 5 is a front view of one of the mobile display units.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of one of the display units.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary vertical section taken generally along the line 7-7 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken generally along the line 88 in FIG. 5.

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a refrigerated display apparatus 10 which is intended particularly for use in supermarkets or other self-service stores in which frozen foods are kept on display for selection on a self-service basis by The invention is particularly well suited for use in connection with the display and sale of frozen foods, but the invention is applicable to the display and sale of all kinds of merchandise requiring refrigeration. In particular, the invention is also applicable to the display of milk, cheese, other dairy products, eggs, meats and the like. However, frozen foods and dairy products and the like normally cannot be displayed in the same area, because frozen foods must be stored at a temperature well below the freezing point, while dairy products and the like must be stored at ternperatures slightly above the freezing point. It will be convenient to refer to the apparatus 10 of FIGS. 1-3 as a facility for the display and storage of frozen foods, with the understanding that a similar facility may be provided for the display and storage of dairy products and the like.

It will be seen that the refrigerated display apparatus 10 comprises a freezer room or compartment 12, which in some cases may also be in the form of a cabinet. The freezer compartment 12 is entirely enclosed by walls, including front and rear walls 14 and 16, side walls 18 and 20, and upper and lower walls 22 and 24. The usual types of insulating materials may be incorporated into the walls 1424 to minimize the entrance of heat into the interior of the freezer compartment 12. The freezer compartment 12 is of the walk-in type and thus is sufficiently large to provide room for personnel to walk inside the compartment and handle merchandise therein. One of the walls of the freezer compartment 12 is provided with an entrance door 26 through which the employees of the store may move merchandise into the freezer compartment. The entrance door 26 should be located in the rear wall 16 or one of the side walls 18 and 20 so that the entrance door opens into a service area 28 of the store, used by employees but not by customers of the store. In this case, the door 26 is mounted in the end wall 20.

The front wall 14- of the freezer compartment 12 is formed with a rectangular opening 30 which is adapted to be closed by a series of vertical or upright display doors 32. Each door may be opened by any customer so that the customer may remove selected articles of merchandise from the freezer 12. Each of the display doors 32 should be equipped with a transparent display panel 34-, made of glass or other transparent material, so that the merchandisc on display within the freezer compartment 12 will be clearly visible through the doors. The transparent panels 34 are preferably of a type providing adequate heat insulation, so as to prevent or minimize the formation of frost or condensed moisture on the outside of the transparent panels. The insulated panels also minimize the entrance of heat into the refrigerated compartment 12. To provide the insulation, each panel 34 may comprise two, three or even more parallel panes 36 of glass or other transparent material. The panes are normally mounted in spaced apart relation and the space or spaces between the panes are sealed to exclude fmoisture.

The display doors 32 should normally be of the swinging type, adapted to swing forwardly int-o open position about vertical hinges 38. Swinging doors have the advantage that each door may be opened independently, without in any way interfering with the opening or operation of any adjacent door. However, the invention is also applicable to refrigerated display apparatus having sliding type doors. Each of the illustrated display doors 32 has a handle 40 which may be used by the customers to pull the door open.

It will be understood that suitable refrigeration equipment is provided to maintain the interior of the freezer compartment 12 at the desired low temperature. For the display and storage of frozen foods the temperature within the freezer should be well below the freezing point.

Typical temperature-s would be approximately 5 to zero Fahrenheit for frozen foods, and for ice cream.

In the illustrated freezer compartment 12, a refrigerator coil 39 is suspended from the ceiling 22 to cool the inside of the compartment to the desired temperature. The illustrated coil 39 is located near the rear of the freezer compartment 12. One or more fans or blowers 41 may be provided to circulate air around the cooling coils 39. The illustrated fan 41 is directed forwardly so that the cooled air will move toward the front of the freezer compartment.

Within the freezer compartment 12, the frozen food or other merchandise is displayed on mobile display units 42 which are positioned in a row immediately behind the display doors 32, so that the merchandise on the mobile display units will be clearly visible through the transparent panels 34-, as well as being readily accessible to the customers when the doors 32 are opened. It is preferred that the width of each display unit 42 be approximately the same as the width of the doors 32, so that one display unit may be mounted behind each door. It will be understood that the width of the display unit may be a multiple of the width of the doors, in which case two or more doors will be in front of each display unit.

Each of the illustrated mobile display units 42 is in the form of a cart having a base portion or dolly 44 fitted with casters or other wheels 46 and 48. The casters 46 are provided with brakes 50a which may be locked by the store employees to prevent movement of the mobile display units when they are in place behind the display doors 32. The casters 46 are at the rear of the mobile display units 42, so as to be accessible to the employees within the freezer compartment 12. The casters 48 are at the front of each dolly 44 and need not be provided with brakes.

Each of the illustrated mobile display units or carts 42 comprises a merchandise rack 50 which is mounted on the dolly 44. As shown, each rack 50 comprises a pair of upright posts 52 which are mounted on the rear portion of the dolly 44, on the opposite sides of the dolly. Diagonal braces 51 may be provided between the dolly 44 and the posts 52. A pair of cross braces 53 may be connected between the posts 52. Adjustable brackets 54 may be mounted on the posts 52 so as to extend forwardly therefrom. The brackets 54 may be of the type having lugs 56 adapted to be mounted in any of a series of slots 58 formed in the front of each post 52. It will be seen that the brackets 54 are adapted to support shelves 60 and baskets or bins 62 for holding frozen foods or other merchandise. It will be understood that the merchandise supporting members 60 and 62 may assume various forms. As shown, the merchandise supporting members 66 and 62 are made of wire. Clips 66 may conveniently be employed to mount the Wire shelves on the bracket 54.

Each of the illustrated carts 42 has a rear closure panel 70 which is mounted between the laterally spaced posts 52, behind the merchandise supporting members 60 and 62. The illustrated closure panel 70 is mounted in U-shaped channels or clips 72 secured to the posts 52, as shown to advantage in FIGS. 6 and 8. The panel 70 may be slid downwardly into the channels 72. The rear closure panel 70 prevents merchandise from falling off the rear of the cart. Moreover, the panel 70 obscures the rear of the freezer compartment 12 from the customers at the front of the freezer, so that the operations of the employees within the freezer 12 will not be visible to the customers.

inside of each of the glass panels 34 in the doors 32. This air then returns under the display carts 42 and travels upwardly to the suspended refrigerator coils 39 for re-cooling. The downward flow of air along the back or inside surfaces of the glass panels 34 produces a wiping action which is effective to clear the glass at an accelerated rate after one of the doors has been opened. In the case of a low temperature installation for the storage and display of frozen foods, a certain amount of moisture tends to condense on the cold inside surface of the glass panel 34 when one of the display doors 32 is opened, because the opening of the door exposes the cold inside surface to the warm air in the store. When the door is returned to its closed position, the wiping action of the cold air flowing downwardly along the door has the important affect of clearing the glass rapidly so that the glass will not be fogged.

The rear closure panel 70 also keeps the extremely cold air from blasting directly on to the inside or back surfaces of the display doors 32. Such a direct blast of cold air may tend to cause localized cooling of the doors to such an extent that there will be a greater possibility of condensation of moisture on the outside glass and metal surfaces of the doors on hot, humid days.

Each of the illustrated display carts 42 is provided with a handle 76 which is connected between the upright posts 52 and is adapted to be grasped by the store employees to facilitate the wheeling of the cart along the floor surface. The handle projects rearwardly from the cart and is readily accessible to the employees within the freezer compartment 12.

The refrigerated display apparatus 10 is provided with enough of the mobile display units 42 to fill all of the spaces behind the display doors 32. In addition, one or more extra display carts 42 are preferably provided so that the extra carts may be loaded with merchandise in advance of actual need. While one of the carts 42 is to be loaded, it may be wheeled outside the refrigerated compartment 12 through the entrance door 26 so that the loading of the cart may be done in an area which is at a cornfortable room temperature. Preferably, frozen foods or other merchandise should be transferred directly from delivery trucks to the display carts, to avoid any necessity for re-handling the merchandise. For this type of operation, enough extra display carts should be provided to hold the quantity of merchandise delivered by the truck. After the extra carts have been loaded with merchandise, they may be wheeled into the freezer compartment 12 for storage in the area behind the row of carts on display.

When the customers have taken all or mosts of the merchandise from one of the display carts, an employee of the store enters the freezer compartment 12 and wheels the cart rearwardly out of the row behind the display doors 32. A fully loaded cart may then be wheeled into the empty space, so that there will be virtually no interruption in the availability of all of the merchandise to the customers of the store. It will be understood that various kinds and brands of merchandise will be placed on the various display carts, so that it is important to keep all of the carts in the display row stocked with merchandise at all times to avoid lost sales. The apparatus of the present invention has the important advantage of making it easy to keep all of the display facilities loaded with merchandise on a virtually continuous basis. Another important advantage resides in the fact that the dis play carts may be loaded in an area which is comfortably warm, so that the store employees will not be subjected to the discomfort of Working for a long period of time in the freezer compartment.

The vertical display arrangement employed in the present invention increases the amount of merchandise that can be displayed along any wall of a given length. Thus, the use of floor space within the store is made more efficient.

Various modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents may be employed without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention, as exemplified in the foregoing description and defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerator, 7

the combination comprising a walk-in cooler room entirely enclosed by a plurality of walls,

said cooler room having a side wall provided with a display opening,

a plurality of vertical display doors mounted in said opening and arranged side by side,

each of said doors having a transparent panel therein,

each door being swingable between closed and open positions to give access to the interior of said cooler room,

a plurality of carts mounted on wheels,

each of said carts having a plurality of shelves extending forwardly thereon,

said carts being disposed in said cooler room with said shelves positioned behind said doors,

each of said carts corresponding in width to one of said doors and being located behind one of said doors,

said cooler room having a floor surface for supporting said carts;

each of said carts being movable on said wheels out of its normal position behind the corresponding door,

said cooler room having space behind said carts for receiving said carts when moved away from said doors,

and an additional door in one wall of said cooler room and providing an opening through which each of said carts may be wheeled out of said cooler room,

each of said carts having a rear generally vertical closure panel behind said shelves and restricting access and visibility of the interior of said cooler room from said first mentioned doors in front of said carts.

2. In a display refrigerator,

the combination comprising a walk-in cooler cabinet enclosed by walls and having a first wall formed with a display opening,

a plurality of carts mounted on wheels in said cabinet and arranged in a row behind said display opening,

each of said carts having merchandise supporting members extending forwardly thereon and disposed immediately behind said display opening,

a plurality of vertical display doors in door frames for closing said display opening,

each of said doors having a transparent panel therein and being swingable about a vertical axis between closed and open positions,

and a walk-in door in another wall of said cabinet for wheeling said carts into and out of said cabinet,

said walk-in door being larger than said carts,

said cabinet having space therein behind said row of carts for maneuvering said carts,

said walk-in door communicating with said space,

each of said carts corresponding in width to one of said display doors but being appreciably larger than one of said door frames and being movable on said wheels out of the row behind said display doors and into said space, and then out of said cooler cabinet through said walk-in door.

3. In a display refrigerator,

the combination comprising a walk-in cooler enclosing walls including at least one vertical wall formed with a display opening,

a plurality of carts mounted on wheels in said cooler and arranged side by side in a row behind said display opening,

each of said carts having merchandise supporting shelves extending forwardly thereon and disposed im mediately behind said display opening,

a plurality of vertical display doors in door frames for closing said display opening,

each of said doors having a transparent panel therein and being swingable about a vertical axis between closed and open positions,

and an entrance door in one Wall of said cooler for wheeling said carts into and out of said cooler,

said entrance door being larger than said carts,

said cooler having space therein behind said row of carts for maneuvering said carts,

said entrance door communicating with said space,

each of said carts corresponding generally in width to one of said display doors but being appreciably larger than one of said door frames and being movable on said Wheels out of the row behind said display doors and into said space, and then out of said cooler through said entrance door.

4. In a refrigerator,

the combination comprising a walk-in cooler entirely enclosed with a plurality of Walls including at least one vertical side wall provided with a display opening,

a plurality of vertical display doors mounted in said opening and arranged side by side,

each door being swingable between closed and open positions to give access to the interior of said cooler,

a plurality of carts mounted on wheels,

each of said carts having a plurality of merchandise supporting members extending forwardly thereon,

said carts being disposed in said cooler with said shelves positioned behind said doors,

each of said carts corresponding in width to one of said doors and being located behind one of said doors,

said cooler having a floor surface for supporting said carts,

each of said carts being movable on said wheels out of its normal position behind the corresponding door,

said cooler having space behind said carts for receiving said carts when moved away from said doors,

and an entrance door in one wall of said cooler and providing an opening through which each of said carts may be wheeled out of said cooler,

each of said carts having a rear generally vertical wall panel behind said shelves.

FOREIGN PATENTS 6/ 1960 France. 4/1939 Great Britain.

ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Primary Examiner.

EVON C. BLUNK, Examiner. 

1. IN A REFRIGERATOR, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING A WALK-IN COOLER ROOM ENTIRELY ENCLOSED BY A PLURALITY OF WALLS, SAID COOLER ROOM HAVING A SIDE WALL PROVIDED WITH A DISPLAY OPENING, A PLURALITY OF VERTICAL DISPLAY DOORS MOUNTED IN SAID OPENING AND ARRANGED SIDE BY SIDE, EACH OF SAID DOORS HAVING A TRANSPARENT PANEL THEREIN, EACH DOOR BEING SWINGABLE BETWEEN CLOSED AND OPEN POSITIONS TO GIVE ACCESS TO THE INTERIOR OF SAID COOLER ROOM, A PLURALITY OF CARTS MOUNTED ON WHEELS, EACH OF SAID CARTS HAVING A PLURALITY OF SHELVES EXTENDING FORWARDLY THEREON, SAID CARTS BEING DISPOSED IN SAID COOLER ROOM WITH SAID SHELVES POSITIONED BEHIND SAID DOORS, EACH OF SAID CARTS CORRESPONDING IN WIDTH TO ONE OF SAID DOORS AND BEING LOCATED BEHIND ONE OF SAID DOORS, SAID COOLER ROOM HAVING A FLOOR SURFACE FOR SUPPORTING SAID CARTS. 